This piece speaks for itself on multiple levels. It wasn't until I had been doing this art on the beach for several years that its impermanent nature began to have an impact on me and my life. I never set out to create temporary art, though much of my art career had been spent setting up installations for dance parties that would generally last only the night. But I held on to the sculpture frames and materials so that my creations could be reformulated or setup exactly the same on a different occasion.
But once I began creating art at the beach, I immediately had to contend with their impermanence. This didn't faze me- the act of working on the art was the reward and it became a challenge to race the tide in making my works.
But at a certain point the deeper understanding of impermanence began to penetrate my bones. Since my art was going to be inevitably erased at some near time in some way, what the experience meant to me as I was making it became the focus. Which easily led to a perspective of how I am engaging and experiencing life in general. Fully feeling that all things change, that all things will pass had me become more present to the experience as it was transpiring. This is exemplified in my relationship with my son for whom I have deprioritized most other things in my life in order to be part of his life as much as possible in the time he is with me.
Nothing will last- neither the pleasure nor the pain. Hopefully this awareness can give you perseverance during the tough times, and give you permission to experience more fully the good times.
